REPORTS OF DELEGATES. 277 



made a precipitate retreat to the hall when the rain clouds 

 swept by. The society had no public dinner, but listened in 

 large niimbers and with apparent interest and satisfaction to an 

 excellent address from one of the citizens of Concord, Mr. 

 Thorcau. The address was an answer to the question, " Why, 

 when a pine forest is cut down, does a hard wood forest take 

 its place?" In apswering this, the speaker showed clearly the 

 necessity of rotation of cro])s, the great vitality of seeds under 

 favorable circumstances, and the means natvire had provided 

 for scattering and planting the seeds of trees and plants. 

 President Felton, of Harvard College, made a pithy speech, 

 contrasting the customs and methods of farming in the olden 

 time with those of the present day, and urged a higher culture 

 as the means of still greater advancement. Hon. Charles 

 Hudson, of Lexington, spoke of the value and importance of 

 agriculture to the State, and urged the necessity of its being 

 fostered and encouraged. 



At the conclusion of these exercises, the annual meeting of 

 the society was holden ; a new board of officers elected, the 

 report of the treasurer, showing the financial affairs of the 

 society to be prosperous, was presented and accepted, and the 

 awards of the various examining committees made known. 



As has been already mtimated, the show of the Middlesex 

 Society did not, as a whole, realize my expectations ; but the 

 State bounty has not been by any means misapplied or wasted. 

 The partial failure was owing to causes over which the officers 

 or members had no control. Rainy days, or years of pleuro- 

 pneumonia, may again occur, but the beneficial stimulus of the 

 State money will be seen, as this season, in the encouragement 

 it gives to those branches of agriculture that require the year for 

 illustration rather than the day of exhibition. This society is 

 much more limited at the present time, in its field of operations, 

 than during the years of its early history. The incorporation 

 of the ^Middlesex North, at Lowell, and South, at Framingham, 

 have somewhat localized it to the middle of the county, but its 

 premium list is open to competitors within the county limits, 

 and numbers avail themselves of the privilege. Middlesex 

 County is one of the best, if not the best county in tlie State, 

 for successful, prosperous husbandry. Its large manufacturing 

 and mercantile population make it a perfect beehive. Consumers 

 3.5* 



